Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Calibrating the Next Generation: Mothers, Early Life Experiences, and Reproductive Development

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Biological Measures of Human Experience across the Lifespan

Abstract

In the spirit of illuminating the invisible, this chapter examines how early life experiences shape a biological sensitivity to context. The biological embedding of early life experiences is an exciting new area of research that lends itself to integrated systems thinking. Indeed, this body of research demands an integration of social inequality, ecological theory, and the cellular unfolding of development from conception to old age. The emphasis for this chapter is the role of early life experiences, particularly undernutrition and stress, in guiding the development of reproductive function. This chapter pulls together these data to examine the bridge to global public health by briefly reviewing some promising new research that documents how economic and dietary transitions across the globe shape early life biology.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 119.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 119.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Adair, L. S. (2001). Size at birth predicts age at menarche. Pediatrics, 107(4), e59.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Adair, L. S., & Popkin, B. M. (2005). Are child eating patterns being transformed globally? Obesity Research, 13(7), 1281–1299.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Adair, L. S., Popkin, B. M., Akin, J. S., Guilkey, D. K., Gultiano, S., Borja, J., et al. (2011). Cohort profile: The Cebu longitudinal health and nutrition survey. International Journal of Epidemiology, 40(3), 619–625.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aiken, C. E., & Ozanne, S. E. (2014). Transgenerational developmental programming. Human Reproduction Update, 20(1), 63–75.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baker, P. T., & Little, M. A. (Eds.). (1976). Man in the Andes: A multidisciplinary study of high-altitude Quechua. Stroudsberg, PA: Dowden, Hutchinson, and Ross.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bateson, P., Barker, D., Clutton-Brock, T., Deb, D., D’Udine, B., Foley, R. A., et al. (2004). Developmental plasticity and human health. Nature, 430(6998), 419–421.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beall, C. M. (2007). Two routes to functional adaptation: Tibetan and Andean high-altitude natives. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 104(Suppl. 1), 8655–8660.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Belkacemi, L., Nelson, D. M., Desai, M., & Ross, M. G. (2010). Maternal undernutrition influences placental-fetal development. Biology of Reproduction, 83(3), 325–331.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bhanot, R., & Wilkinson, M. (1983). Opiatergic control of gonadotropin secretion during puberty in the rat: A neurochemical basis for the hypothalamic ‘Gonadostat?’. Endocrinology, 113(2), 596–603.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Braun, T., Challis, J. R., Newnham, J. P., & Sloboda, D. M. (2013). Early-life glucocorticoid exposure: The hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis, placental function, and long-term disease risk. Endocrine Reviews, 34(6), 885–916.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Broekmans, F. J., Knauff, E., Velde, E., Macklon, N. S., & Fauser, B. C. (2007). Female reproductive ageing: Current knowledge and future trends. Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism, 18(2), 58–65.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Broekmans, F., Soules, M., & Fauser, B. (2009). Ovarian aging: Mechanisms and clinical consequences. Endocrine Reviews, 30(5), 465–493.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cameron, N. (2007). Growth patterns in adverse environments. American Journal of Human Biology, 19(5), 615–621.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cameron, N., & Demerath, E. W. (2002). Critical periods in human growth and their relationship to diseases of aging. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 119(S35), 159–184.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cameron, N., Johnson, W., & Anderson, E. L. (2011). Rapid growth (>1.33 sds) rather than catch-up growth (>0.67 to <1.33 sds) during infancy is associated with significantly greater risk for obesity in childhood. Obesity, 19, S220.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carey, N. (2012). The epigenetics revolution: How modern biology is rewriting our understanding of genetics, disease, and inheritance. New York: Columbia University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Charney, E. (2012). Behavior genetics and postgenomics. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 35(05), 331–358.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cooper, C., Kuh, D., Egger, P., Wadsworth, M., & Barker, D. (1996). Childhood growth and age at menarche. British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 103(8), 814–817.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crespi, E. J., & Denver, R. J. (2005). Ancient origins of human developmental plasticity. American Journal of Human Biology, 17(1), 44–54.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cresswell, J. L., Egger, P., Fall, C. H. D., Osmond, C., Fraser, R. B., & Barker, D. J. P. (1997). Is the age of menopause determined in-utero? Early Human Development, 49(2), 143–148.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crowther, N. J., Cameron, N., Trusler, J., & Gray, I. P. (1998). Association between poor glucose tolerance and rapid postnatal weight gain in seven-year-old children. Diabetologia, 41(10), 1163–1167.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dancause, K. N., Laplante, D. P., Oremus, C., Fraser, S., Brunet, A., & King, S. (2011). Disaster-related prenatal maternal stress influences birth outcomes: Project ice storm. Early Human Development, 87(12), 813–820.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Bruin, J. P., Dorland, M., Bruinse, H. W., Spliet, W., Nikkels, P. G. J., & Te Velde, E. R. (1998). Fetal growth retardation as a cause of impaired ovarian development. Early Human Development, 51(1), 39–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Bruin, J. P., Nikkels, P. G. J., Bruinse, H. W., van Haaften, M., Looman, C. W. N., & te Velde, E. R. (2001). Morphometry of human ovaries in normal and growth-restricted fetuses. Early Human Development, 60(3), 179–192.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dolinoy, D. C., Huang, D., & Jirtle, R. L. (2007). Maternal nutrient supplementation counteracts bisphenol A-induced DNA hypomethylation in early development. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 104(32), 13056–13061.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Drake, A. J., & Walker, B. R. (2004). The intergenerational effects of fetal programming: Non-genomic mechanisms for the inheritance of low birth weight and cardiovascular risk. Journal of Endocrinology, 180(1), 1–16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elias, S. G., van Noord, P. A., Peeters, P. H., den Tonkelaar, I., & Grobbee, D. E. (2003). Caloric restriction reduces age at menopause: The effect of the 1944–1945 Dutch famine. Menopause, 10(5), 399–405.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elias, S. G., van Noord, P. A., Peeters, P. H., den Tonkelaar, I., & Grobbee, D. E. (2005). Childhood exposure to the 1944–1945 Dutch famine and subsequent female reproductive function. Human Reproduction, 20(9), 2483–2488.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ellis, B. J. (2004). Timing of pubertal maturation in girls: An integrated life history approach. Psychological Bulletin, 130(6), 920–958.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ellison, P. T. (1990). Human ovarian function and reproductive ecology: New hypotheses. American Anthropologist, 92(4), 933–952.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ellison, P. T. (1994). Advances in human reproductive ecology. Annual Review of Anthropology, 23, 255–275.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ellison, P. T. (1996). Developmental influences on adult ovarian hormonal function. American Journal of Human Biology, 8(6), 725–734.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ellison, P. T. (2003a). Energetics and reproductive effort. American Journal of Human Biology, 15(3), 342–351.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ellison, P. T. (2003b). On fertile ground: A natural history of human reproduction. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ellison, P. T., & Jasienska, G. (2007). Constraint, pathology, and adaptation: How can we tell them apart? American Journal of Human Biology, 19(5), 622–630.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Epel, E. S., Blackburn, E. H., Firdaus, J. L., Dhabhar, S., Adler, N., Marrow, J. D., et al. (2004). Accelerated telomere shortening in response to life stress. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 101(49), 17312–17315.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gardner, D. S., Ozanne, S. E., & Sinclair, K. D. (2009). Effect of the early-life nutritional environment on fecundity and fertility of mammals. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences, 364(1534), 3419–3427.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gluckman, P. D., & Beedle, A. S. (2007). Migrating ovaries: Early life influences on later gonadal function. Plos Medicine, 4(5), 781–783.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gluckman, P. D., & Hanson, M. A. (2004). Living with the past: Evolution, development, and patterns of disease. Science, 305(5691), 1733–1736.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gluckman, P. D., & Hanson, M. A. (2006). Evolution, development and timing of puberty. Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism, 17(1), 7–12.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glynn, L. M., Poggi Davis, E., Dunkel-Schetter, C., Chicz-DeMet, A., Hobel, C. J., & Sandman, C. A. (2007). Postnatal maternal cortisol levels predict temperment in health breastfed infants. Early Human Development, 83, 675–681.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gravlee, C. C. (2009). How race becomes biology: Embodiment of social inequality. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 139(1), 47–57.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gunnar, M. R. (1998). Quality of early care and buffering of neuroendocrine stress reactions: Potential effects on the developing human brain. Preventive Medicine, 27(2), 208–211.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gunnar, M. R., & Donzella, B. (2002). Social regulation of the cortisol levels in early human development. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 27(1–2), 199–220.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gunnar, M., & Quevedo, K. (2007). The neurobiology of stress and development. Annual Review of Psychology, 58, 145–173.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hales, C. N., & Barker, D. J. (2001). The thrifty phenotype hypothesis. British Medical Bulletin, 60(1), 5–20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hamosh, M. (2001). Bioactive factors in human milk. Pediatric Clinics of North America, 48(1), 69–86.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hardy, R., & Kuh, D. (2002). Does early growth influence timing of the menopause? Evidence from a British birth cohort. Human Reproduction, 17(9), 2474–2479.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harris, A., & Seckl, J. (2010). Glucocorticoids, prenatal stress and the programming of disease. Hormones and Behavior, 59(3), 279–289.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hart, R., Sloboda, D. M., Doherty, D. A., Norman, R. J., Atkinson, H. C., Newnham, J. P., et al. (2009). Prenatal determinants of uterine volume and ovarian reserve in adolescence. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 94(12), 4931–4937.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • He, Q., & Karlberg, J. (2001). BMI in childhood and its association with height gain, timing of puberty, and final height. Pediatric Research, 49(2), 244–251.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hertzman, C., & Boyce, T. (2010). How experience gets under the skin to create gradients in developmental health. Annual Review of Public Health, 31, 329–347.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hinde, K. (2013). Lactational programming of infant behavioral phenotype. In Building Babies (pp. 187–207). New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hinde, K., & Capitanio, J. P. (2010). Lactational programming? mother’s milk energy predicts infant behavior and temperament in rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta). American Journal of Primatology, 72(6), 522–529.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hinde, K., & Milligan, L. A. (2011). Primate milk: Proximate mechanisms and ultimate perspectives. Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews, 20(1), 9–23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Howells, M. E. (2013). Maternal psychosocial stress and neonate outcomes on the Pacific island of Tutuila. Doctoral dissertation. University of Colorado at Boulder.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ibáñez, L., Potau, N., Enriquez, G., & De Zegher, F. (2000). Reduced uterine and ovarian size in adolescent girls born small for gestational age. Pediatric Research, 47(5), 575–577.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ibáñez, L., Potau, N., Enriquez, G., Marcos, M. V., & De Zegher, F. (2003). Hypergonadotrophinaemia with reduced uterine and ovarian size in women born small-for-gestational-age. Human Reproduction, 18(8), 1565–1569.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ibáñez, L., Potau, N., Ferrer, A., Rodriguez-Hierro, F., Marcos, M. V., & De Zegher, F. (2002). Reduced ovulation rate in adolescent girls born small for gestational age. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 87(7), 3391–3393.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Illnerova, H., Buresova, M., & Presl, J. (1993). Melatonin rhythm in human milk. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 77(3), 838–841.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jablonka, E., & Lamb, M. J. (2005). Evolution in four dimensions. Cumberland, RI: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jasienska, G. (2012). The fragile wisdom: An evolutionary view on women’s biology and health. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Jasienska, G., Thune, I., & Ellison, P. T. (2006a). Fatness at birth predicts adult susceptibility to ovarian suppression: An empirical test of the predictive adaptive response hypothesis. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 103(34), 12759–12762.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jasienska, G., Ziomkiewcz, A., Lipson, S. F., Thune, I., & Ellison, P. T. (2006b). High ponderal index at birth predicts high estradiol levels in adult women. American Journal of Human Biology, 18(1), 133–140.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaplowitz, P. B. (2008). Link between body fat and the timing of puberty. Pediatrics, 121, S208–S217.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Karlberg, J. (2002). Secular trends in pubertal development. Hormone Research, 57, 19–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kiess, W., Blum, W. F., & Aubert, M. L. (1998). Leptin, puberty and reproductive function: Lessons from animal studies and observations in humans. European Journal of Endocrinology, 138(1), 26–29.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kuzawa, C. W. (2007). Developmental origins of life history: Growth, productivity, and reproduction. American Journal of Human Biology, 19(5), 654–661.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kuzawa, C. W., & Bragg, J. M. (2012). Plasticity in human life history strategy. Current Anthropology, 53(S6), S369–S382.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kuzawa, C. W., McDade, T. W., Adair, L. S., & Lee, N. (2010). Rapid weight gain after birth predicts life history and reproductive strategy in Filipino males. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107(39), 16800–16805.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Langley-Evans, S. C. (2006). Developmental programming of health and disease. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 65(01), 97–105.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lasker, G. W. (1969). Human biological adaptability. The ecological approach in physical anthropology. Science, 166(3912), 1480–1486.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Little, M. A., & Haas, J. D. (Eds.). (1989). Human population biology: A transdisciplinary science. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lupien, S. J., McEwen, B. S., Gunnar, M. R., & Heim, C. (2009). Effects of stress throughout the lifespan on the brain, behaviour and cognition. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 10(6), 434–445.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lussana, F., Painter, R. C., Ocke, M. C., Buller, H. R., Bossuyt, P. M., & Roseboom, T. J. (2008). Prenatal exposure to the Dutch famine is associated with a preference for fatty foods and a more atherogenic lipid profile. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 88, 1648–1652.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Manikkam, M., Thompson, R. C., Herkimer, C., Welch, K. B., Flak, J., Karsch, F. J., et al. (2008). Developmental programming: Impact of prenatal testosterone excess on pre- and postnatal gonadotropin regulation in sheep. Biology of Reproduction, 78, 648–660.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McDade, T. W. (2003). Life history theory and the immune system: Steps toward a human ecological immunology. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 122(S37), 100–125.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McDade, T. W. (2014). Development and validation of assay protocols for use with dried blood spot samples. American Journal of Human Biology, 26(1), 1–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McDade, T. W., Rutherford, J., Adair, L., & Kuzawa, C. W. (2010). Early origins of inflammation: Microbial exposures in infancy predict lower levels of C-reactive protein in adulthood. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 277(1684), 1129–1137.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meaney, M. J. (2010). Epigenetics and the biological definition of Gene × Environment Interactions. Child Development, 81(1), 41–79.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miller, E. M., Aiello, M. O., Fujita, M., Hinde, K., Milligan, L., & Quinn, E. A. (2013). Field and laboratory methods in human milk research. American Journal of Human Biology, 25(1), 1–11.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miralles, O., Sánchez, J., Palou, A., & Picó, C. (2006). A physiological role of breast milk leptin in body weight control in developing infants. Obesity, 14(8), 1371–1377.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murphy, L., Sievert, L., Begum, K., Sharmeen, T., Puleo, E., Chowdhury, O., et al. (2013). Life course effects on age at menopause among Bangladeshi sedentees and migrants to the UK. American Journal of Human Biology, 25(1), 83–93.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nunez-de la Mora, A., Chatterton, R. T., Choudhury, O. A., Napolitano, D. A., & Bentley, G. R. (2007). Childhood conditions influence adult progesterone levels. Plos Medicine, 4(5), 813–821.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nyberg, C. H. (2013). Navigating transitions in hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal function from pregnancy through lactation: Implications for maternal health and infant brain development. In Building babies (pp. 133–154). New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ong, K. K., Northstone, K., & Wells, J. C. K. (2007). Earlier mother’s age at menarche predicts rapid infancy growth and childhood obesity. Plos Medicine, 4(4), 737–742.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oyama, Susan. (2000). Evolution’s eye: A systems view of the biology-culture divide. Durham and London: Duke University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Oyama, S., Griffiths, P. E., & Gray, R. D. (2001). Introduction: What is developmental systems theory? In S. Oyama, P. E. Griffiths, & R. D. Gray (Eds.), Cycles of contingency: Developmental systems and evolution (pp. 1–12). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Petherick, A. (2010). Development: Mother’s milk: A rich opportunity. Nature, 468(7327), S5–S7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pike, I. L. (2014). Remembered hunger in an increasingly obese world. In Anthropology News, 55(3), 3–4.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pike, I. L., & Milligan, L. A. (2010). Pregnancy and Lactation. In M. Muhlenbein (Ed.), Human evolutionary biology (pp. 338–350). New York: Oxford University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Prentice, A. M. (2001). Fires of life: The struggles of an ancient metabolism in a modern world. Nutrition Bulletin, 26(1), 13–27.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prentice, A. M. (2005). Early influences on human energy regulation: Thrifty genotypes and thrifty phenotypes. Physiology & Behavior, 86(5), 640–645.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Quinn, E. A., & Kuzawa, C. W. (2012). A dose–response relationship between fish consumption and human milk DHA content among Filipino women in Cebu City, Philippines. Acta Paediatrica, 101(10), E439–E445.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reynolds, R. M. (2013). Glucocorticoid excess and the developmental origins of disease: Two decades of testing the hypothesis–2012 Curt Richter Award Winner. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 38(1), 1–11.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Richter, L., Norris, S., Pettifor, J., Yach, D., & Cameron, N. (2007). Cohort profile: Mandela’s children: The 1990 birth to twenty study in South Africa. International Journal of Epidemiology, 36(3), 504–511.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roa, J., Aguilar, E., Dieguez, C., Pinilla, L., & Tena-Sempere, M. (2008). New frontiers in kisspeptin/GPR54 physiology as fundamental gatekeepers of reproductive function. Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology, 29(1), 48–69.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roland, A. V., & Moenter, S. M. (2011). Clucosensing by GnRH neurons: Inhibition by androgens and involvement of AMP-activated protein kinase. Molecular Endocrinology, 25(5), 847–858.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roseboom, T., de Rooij, S., & Painter, R. (2006). The Dutch famine and its long-term consequences for adult health. Early Human Development, 82(8), 485–491.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rudzik, A. E. F. (2013). C-reactive protein, body mass index and psychosocial stress/distress among Brazilian women in the early postpartum. American Journal of Human Biology, 25(2), 272–273.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rudzik, A. E. F., Breakey, A., & Bribiescas, R. G. (2014). Oxytocin and Epstein-Barr virus: Stress biomarkers in the postpartum period among first-time mothers from Sao Paulo, Brazil. American Journal of Human Biology, 26(1), 43–50.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sabet, F., Richter, L. M., Ramchandani, P. G., Stein, A., Quigley, M. A., & Norris, S. A. (2009). Low birthweight and subsequent emotional and behavioural outcomes in 12-year-old children in Soweto, South Africa: Findings from Birth to Twenty. International Journal of Epidemiology, 38(4), 944–954.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schulkin, J., Schmidt, L., & Erickson, E. (2005). Glucocorticoids facilitation of corticotropin-releasing hormone in the placenta and brain: Functional impact on birth and behavior. In M. L. Power & J. Schulkin (Eds.), Birth, distress, and disease: Placenta-brain interactions (pp. 235–268). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Schulz, L. C. (2010). The Dutch Hunger winter and the developmental origins of health and disease. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107(39), 16757–16758.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seckl, J. R., & Holmes, M. C. (2007). Mechanisms of disease: Glucocorticoids, their placental metabolism and fetal ‘programming’ of adult pathophysiology. Nature Clinical Practice Endocrinology & Metabolism, 3(6), 479–488.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shalev, I., Moffit, T. E., Sugden, K., Williams, B., Houts, R. M., Danese, A., et al. (2013). Exposure to violence during childhood is associated with telomere erosion from 5 to 10 years of age: A longitudinal study. Molecular Psychiatry, 18(5), 576–581.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shonkoff, J. P. (2012). Leveraging the biology of adversity to address the roots of disparities in health and development. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 109(Supplement 2), 17302–17307.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sievert, L. L. (2006). Menopause: A biocultural perspective. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sloboda, D. M., Hart, R., Doherty, D. A., Pennell, C. E., & Hickey, M. (2007). Rapid communication—Age at menarche: Influences of prenatal and postnatal growth. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 92(1), 46–50.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sloboda, D. M., Hickey, M., & Hart, R. (2011). Reproduction in females: The role of the early life environment. Human Reproduction Update, 17(2), 210–227.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith-Kirwin, S. M., O’Connor, D. M., Johnston, J., de Lancy, E., Hassink, S. G., & Funanage, V. L. (1998). Leptin expression in human mammary epithelial cells and breast milk. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 83(5), 1810.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thayer, Z. M., & Kuzawa, C. W. (2011). Biological memories of past environments: Epigenetic pathways to health disparities. Epigenetics, 6(7), 798–803.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thayer, Z. M., & Kuzawa, C. W. (2014). Early origins of health disparities: Material deprivation predicts maternal cortisol in pregnancy and offspring cortisol reactivity in the first few weeks of life. American Journal of Human Biology. doi:10.1002/ajhb.22532

    Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, A. L. (2013). Intergenerational impact of maternal obesity and postnatal feeding practices on pediatric obesity. Nutrition Reviews, 71, S55–S61.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, A. L., Houck, K. M., Adair, L., Gordon-Larsen, P., Du, S. F., Zhang, B., et al. (2014). Pathogenic and obesogenic factors associated with inflammation in Chinese children, adolescents and adults. American Journal of Human Biology, 26(1), 18–28.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tobi, E. W., Lumey, L. H., Talens, R. P., Kremer, D., Putter, H., Stein, A. D., et al. (2009). DNA methylation differences after exposure to prenatal famine are common and timing- and sex-specific. Human Molecular Genetics, 18, 4046–4053.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vickers, M. H., & Sloboda, D. M. (2012). Leptin as mediator of the effects of developmental programming. Best Practice & Research Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 26(5), 677–687.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vitzthum, V. J. (2008). Evolutionary models of women’s reproductive functioning. Annual Review of Anthropology, 37, 53–73.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vitzthum, V. J. (2009). The ecology and evolutionary endocrinology of reproduction in the human female. Yearbook of Physical Anthropology, 52, 95–136.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wadhwa, P. D. (2005). Psychoneuroendocrine processes in human pregnancy influence fetal development and health. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 30(8), 724–743.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wadhwa, P. D., Buss, C., Entringer, S., & Swanson, J. M. (2009). Developmental origins of health and disease: Brief history of the approach and current focus on epigenetic mechanisms. Seminars in Reproductive Medicine, 27(5), 358–368.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wagner, I. V., Sabin, M. A., Pfäffle, R. W., Hiemisch, A., Sergeyev, E., Körner, A., et al. (2012). Effects of obesity on human sexual development. Nature Reviews Endocrinology, 8(4), 246–254.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wasser, H. M., Thompson, A. L., Siega-Riz, A. M., Adair, L. S., Hodges, E. A., & Bentley, M. E. (2013). Who’s feeding baby? Non-maternal involvement in feeding and its association with dietary intakes among infants and toddlers. Appetite, 71, 7–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • West-Eberhard, M. J. (2003). Developmental plasticity and evolution. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yajnik, C. S., Fall, C. H., Coyaji, K. J., Hirve, S. S., Rao, S., Barker, D. J., et al. (2003). Neonatal anthropometry: The thin-fat Indian baby. The pune maternal nutrition study. International Journal of Obesity Related Metabolic Disorders, 27(2), 173–180.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA

    Ivy L. Pike

Authors
  1. Ivy L. Pike
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ivy L. Pike .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA

    Lynnette Leidy Sievert

  2. University of Hawaii, Hilo, Hawaii, USA

    Daniel E. Brown

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Pike, I.L. (2016). Calibrating the Next Generation: Mothers, Early Life Experiences, and Reproductive Development. In: Sievert, L., Brown, D. (eds) Biological Measures of Human Experience across the Lifespan. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-44103-0_2

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-44103-0_2

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-44101-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-44103-0

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation